Macedonia seeks partner for national airline

Macedonia to complete search for national airline partner this summer

The newly appointed head of the Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency (CAA), Goran Jandreoski, says plans to create a new national carrier, six years on from the demise of MAT Macedonian Airlines, are advancing and on schedule. A consultancy firm hired to seek out potential foreign partners to assist in creating the country's new national airline will deliver its findings to the CAA in August. The report will determine whether any reputable global carrier is interested in partnering up with the Macedonian government in order to create a new airline. Mr. Jandreoski believes a new national carrier will further develop the country’s aviation sector and enhance Macedonia’s socio-economic development. According to the head of the CAA, Macedonia has 63 registered commercial pilots, most of whom work outside the country but are ready to return home, as well as a further 74 technical personnel. The Macedonian government revealed plans for a new flag carrier last year.

The country’s new national airline will have to comprise of at least 51% of Macedonian capital and at least one aircraft registered in the country, either owned or leased. The government has said subsidies issued to low cost airlines, such as Wizz Air, for its flights out of the country, will be maintained despite the launch of a new national airline. Wizz Air carried 40% of all commercial passengers to and from Macedonia last year. Regardless of the project’s outcome, Mr. Jandreoski is confident Skopje will offer transatlantic flights within three to four years. However, he warns that the establishment of such flights is complicated and will depend on various factors, primarily safety and security issues.

The Turkish TAV Airports Holding, which runs both of Macedonia’s international airports, has previously said the country is in need of a national carrier which will help develop its aviation industry. “TAV wants to compete with airports in neighbouring countries and attract foreign airlines. If you do not have a national carrier, then you miss out on the opportunity to attract airlines from other countries. This is because of commitments outlined in bilateral agreements. We are trying to attract foreign airlines to Macedonia and establish a national carrier, otherwise air traffic in the country will stall”, the airport operator said. It added, “What is lacking is a national airline. ‘Macedonian Airlines’ must be established. We have invested in airports and Macedonia should invest in its own carrier”. Turkish Airlines has been tipped as a frontrunner in partnering up with the Macedonian government to establish a new national carrier. Over the past twenty years, Macedonia has had two national airlines, both of which subsequently declared bankruptcy.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:29

    How do they plan to finance Wizz Air and a national airline at the same time?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous09:31

    I don't think Macedonia needs a national airline but it would be interesting. The government would throw huge amounts of cash at it just like Serbia into Air Serbia so you would probably have a reputable airline for sure. The only problem is that the Macedonian market is much smaller.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:13

      If Slovenija can manage it why couldnt Makedonija?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:16

      Turisticki potencijal i polozaj Slovenije se ne mogu porediti sa Makedonijom.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:31

      Kakve to veze ima sa aviokompanijom? I broj avio putnika je slican.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:58

      Seveda ima neko povezavo vse skupaj.
      Adria se sicer vse bolj ozira po evropskem trgu, kajti samo od slovenskega trga dolgoročno ne bodo preživeli. http://sierra5.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2274

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:36

    Can someone tell me to which cities did MAT fly to in its last years and did they fly to ex-yu cities? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a complete vanity project and a total waste of money. How on earth do they plan on this being profitable, and what routes could this airline fly that WIZZ couldn't be more successful on?

    The only way I see this making any sense is if this airline flies regional routes. Won't be profitable, but at least it could facilitate trade. Perhaps a few EMB-120s flying to Tirana, Bucharest, Sarajevo, and perhaps Athens (if they can get along). If they are going to be sinking money, may as well serve some purpose instead of a government spending money to compete with a much better managed private sector.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:53

      Or this could all be part of another fix up for Wizz Air. Wizz Air creates Wizz Air Macedonia and registers 2 planes in Macedonia.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:41

    It seems like every single city in ex-Yu will have flights to the US. Anyone else want to sign up? Podgorica?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:42

      Trebinje

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:39

      Rovinj

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:44

      Morava

      Delete
    4. Anonymous15:08

      Palma says Jagodina

      Delete
    5. Ako svaki grad iz jugoisticnog dela Evrope ''hoce'' da leti za USA. Pa neka leti. Ako nemoze, nista strasno. Letece na novcu poreza, pa neka se vesele. Naravno nemislim na one koji placaju porez. Ko upravlja taj i trosi. Kada nemoze vise da novcano izdrzi... Prosto zatvori kompaniju. Uzaludno je o ovome pisati. Uglavnom. Sa nadom da nikoga od ovih sto ne odobravaju startovanje novih avio kompanija ne kosta ni jedan dinar, centa..., kao ni mene, bar kada su u pitanju druge drzave, lakse ce se ''podnositi'' . Ljudi koji mogu rade sto zele i mogu. Ostali poput mene, pisu i gledaju kako ''karavani'' prolaze. Tako je bilo do sada na tom misticnom Balkanu. Od sada? Time will tell.
      Rodney, home of QANTASVILLE 1. Sydney. AUST.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:49

    I'm only interested in seeing which airline will actually sign up for this but I have a strong feeling its going to be Turkish Airlines. Who knows. Maybe they make some hybrid or semi low cost airline and try to attract a huge amount of passengers from Pristina. During the summer they could also do charters to Turkey... They would need just 2 planes at first.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:57

      I agree I wouldn't be so quick to write this off. There are many possibilities with a strong partner.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous09:59

    Well i miss the old MAT livery in the sky...

    I am afraid of Turkish Airlines as a Partner when u take a look at BiH Airlines what happend to them... I hope they can attract Qatar Airways or Emirates (i know i dream a little bit)

    But anyway a little bit more competion in the region would not be bad...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:04

      +1

      Don't understand why people in the Balkans still don't get that competition is good. The more the merrier.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:14

      Because they heard Lufthansa CEO complain against ME3 competition?

      Delete
  8. Anonymous11:03

    The Macedonian government has lost all credibility to do anything after all the affairs, spying and corruption. This will be another project where someone will get rich at the expense of its citizens. Macedonia is becoming a Sultanate in every single way.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11:09

    Videla žaba da se konji potkivaju, i to poni konji, pa i ona digla nogu.
    Dobro je za Srbiju što će država izmedju Srbije i
    Grčke morati da najuri W6 ili da ih natera na smanjenje broja operacija pa da prebace jedan avion sa SKP na INI

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:14

      Haters gonna hate...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:18

      @11:09

      One of the most useless comments on this blog so far, and you had to beat quite some competition.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:37

      Zvuči kao YU AMC sa Skyscrapercity-ja, on obično ima glupe rasističke komentare u stilu "pravimo se da je Srbija Švicarska, a sve ostale države u regiji inferiorne u odnosu na nju".

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:35

      You mean SM here.

      Delete
    5. Anon 1:35, care to elaborate?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:45

      Ne kazem da je Srbija nista specijalno, kao ni njena aviokompanija. bar za sada, ali ako se mi Srbi busamo sta onda rade stanovnici te zemlje koja je juzno od nas? Prave novu Atlantidu, a za aviokompanije nemam komentar, naravno da ce Turci da im pomognu da naprave fee3der za IST a nema mesta za tolike kompanije na SKP trzistu. Sada im ide dobro zbog tvrdoglavosti kosovskog vazduhoplovnog direktorata koji ne dozvoljava pravim lowcosterima da lete na PRN. Pitanje je dokle ce to trajati.
      a nek se stanovnici ove republike ne brecaju.previse, ponasaju se kao da su naslednici nekog velikog carstva.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:30

      @ SM, (Sam)

      No offense intended.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous12:35

    Good luck

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous13:32

    Maybe Macedonia wants to partner with Air Serbia or Etihad and open a base in Skopje?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous14:22

    Mozda najbolje resenje je da EY ulozi tih 49 % i onda stacioniraju 2 ATR 72-600 i naprave veliki codeshare sa ASL.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous16:25

    OT:

    http://www.tportal.hr/biznis/kompanije/379758/Croatia-Airlines-tradicionalno-prvi-kvartal-zavrsila-u-minusu.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:47

      Great news, already posted on Ex-Yu aviation blog

      http://www.exyuaviation.com/p/singapore-airlines-croatia-codeshare.html

      Delete
  14. Anonymous16:40

    Mr. Jandreoski needs to stop chugging that rakija!

    No way in hell does SKP get transatlantic service in the next 3-4 years (or ever.)

    If the likes of BUD, ZAG, BEG can't sustain transatlatnic service, you think SKP will? I guess it doesn't hurt to dream.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:16

      Sorry but ZAG is no way comparable to BUD or BEG, it is more comparable with SKP.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:06

      Neither is BEG comparable to BUD

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:14

      Anonymous 7:06 PM

      +1000

      Delete
    4. If Air Serbia keeps on growing then BEG and BUD could easily become comparable. Of course, it's a big if.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:02

      AnonymousApril 30, 2015 at 7:06 PM

      Sorry to disappoint you but both Belgrade and Budapest are in the category of 5-10 million pax.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:10

      Both in category 5-10 million? Haha, Belgrade 4.6 million in 2014, Budapest 9.1 million passengers! Come on, are you serious?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:20

      Anon8:02

      One thing that I like about numbers is that they can't lie, like people do

      Statistics 2014.
      SKP 1 208 359
      ZAG 2 430 971
      BEG 4 638 577
      BUD 9 155 961

      So tell me how is BEG in 5 - 10 mil if it is below 5 mil?
      It's almost uncanny how these airports have exactly 100 % higher numbers between two of them, so they can't be comparable

      Delete
    8. Anonymous20:26

      Belgrade is reaching 5 million this year. Also, the structure of pax is very different. BUD is mostly a low-cost airport, a quick visit there would help you understand why they are comparable. An airport where those numbers would really be relevant is WAW, which has a similar traffic structure as Belgrade.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous20:30

      Did Belgrade reach 5 million pax this year? No? End of discussion!

      Delete
    10. Anonymous20:35

      dude, it's double in size of traffic, DOUBLE, and BUD will grow this year aswell, and be above 10 mil. Are you trying to tell me that ASL pax should be counted as double? Oh wait, they should, since ASL is mostly transfer pax, and BUD as you say is low cost so it's not transfer bud O&D traffic.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous20:37

      No, because this year isn't finished yet, i would like to remind you we're still in April. For someone who likes the numbers you seem pretty much disorientated and may i add - not very smart. End of discussion.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous20:42

      Anonymous 8:37 PM, speaking about being smart...

      4.6 million < 9.1 million
      4.6 million < 5 million
      5 million < 9.1 million < 10 million

      Better?

      Delete
    13. Anonymous20:52

      2.4 million < 2.5 million

      Better?

      Delete
    14. Anonymous20:53

      If 4.6 is to be rounded up then it becomes 5,not 4.

      Delete
    15. Anonymous21:09

      People are referring to BUD as a low cost airport, while forgetting that BEG is a low yield airport... TRANSIT pax are mostly low yields pax (except in few rare exceptions)

      Delete
    16. Anonymous21:14

      anon9:09

      Oh, now I see your math, BEG will be above 5 mil this year, so it's 5.1 mil (or more) will round up to 10 mil

      Delete
    17. Anonymous21:18

      Anonymous 9.14

      I see you are trying to be funny. Let me educate you. 5.1 is rounded up to 5.
      5.5 and above gets rounded up to 6.

      You are welcome.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous21:48

      No, you're funny when you say 5=10

      Delete
    19. Anonymous22:02

      No one said that. Get your facts right or just admit your defeat.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous22:37

      So you want me to admit that your rounding up of 4.6 to 5 for BEG is somehow making BEG comparable with BUD?

      Delete
    21. Anonymous22:50

      No. It just means that they are in the same category, five to ten million or under ten million.

      Delete
    22. Anonymous01:40

      Holy Shit, you guys have a lot of time on your hands.

      Delete
    23. Anonymous07:47

      So? We can spend our time anyway we want to. Get off your high horse.

      Delete
    24. Anonymous13:02

      The croat is right. Too early to say beg and bud are comparable. Numbers dont lie. This comes from a serb.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous17:48

    OT : CTN announced total income of 32 million euros in the first quarter handling 297.000 passengers. So it equals 107 euro per passenger. However, ASL published figures of 39 million euros and 453.000 passengers for the same period of time. So their income was 86 euros per passenger. I think ASL's average distance per flight is longer than CTN's. Have I calculated well ? Any comment or discussion ? Maybe I missed something.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:18

      ASL costs are lower as well, i remember hiring their cost-structure is near the one of EasyJet or something.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous17:57

    ot: kada cemo moci da saznamo negde koliko godisnje putnika iz beg-a leti za ams, waw, txl, itd itd itd? mene to veoma zanima, a postavljam ovaj ot zato sto sam malopre procitao na exyu-u da smo u 2014. iz lju imali oko 80.000 slovenaca, tj pax-ova na toj liniji. mene statisticki podaci jako zanimaju, posebno za npr: cph i arn, jer je ove zime asl leteo redukovano ne samo za ta dva grada vec i za mxp i neke druge. na osnovu takvih statistickih podataka moci cemo kvalitetnije da razmisljamo i pisemo na ovom blogu. hvala unapred i molim exyu admina da se potrudi da nekako dodje do tih informacija. hvala mnogo i srecan 1.maj.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:56

      Slow news day. Watch this instead if you love planes, skiis or both. Watch it in HD and enjoy!

      https://youtu.be/X-C9Abz4msk?t=2m28s

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:01

      Just because the news isn't about Air Serbia doesn't mean its a slow news day. God.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:33

      Slow as in not too many comments. Did you watch the video, it has nothing to do with Air Serbia, chill.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:02

      Here are the top 5 JU markets - numbers for 2014 (% vs 2013):

      1) Paris: 151.734 (+34%)
      2) Zurich: 145.262 (+83%)
      3) Moscow: 123.812 (+32%)
      4) Podgorica: 122.752 (+31%)
      5) Athens: 106.055 (+299%)

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:07

      Sorry, I mistyped the % increase for Athens. It's +199% actually.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous21:34

      Athens is massive, wonder if you would have the numbers for TLV which was discussed recently.

      Delete
    7. Of course the numbers would be up for TLV since they went from like 2-3 weekly ( JU time) to daily. The issue is not with the total number of pax, but the load factor on those flights. EK Dallas route has a lot of passengers since its operated by a A380 daily, but the load factor is only around 55%.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous18:27

    ot: Interesting private 747 at Belgrade yesterday, picture by Uros Mitrovic:

    https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/11151053_10153251892023826_8473648232203745425_n.jpg?oh=e5ce44f24072f894a9dfe117c93e4b7b&oe=55DA195F&__gda__=1436330906_83a7bf59516c8bc35611cd8616037b70

    Air Serbia deal was done, agriculture - done, Belgrade Waterfront - done, could it be new deal in the works for concession of the airport? EC would not allow it, but if joint company is made with someone from EU like VINCI getting 51% and someone from UAE getting 49%, that could work for airport concession.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vinci is most likely out of the picture. They don't have enough cash to acquire two airports and they are currently interested in Russia.
      I wonder who else might be interested from the West.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20:13

      That was a 747-400, correct?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20:19

      Vinci has experience as airport operator, UAE might have the cash Vinci needs, together they have it all. Mali went to see Vinci's airport concession deal first hand in Portugal recently so it does not look like they are out of the picture.

      Yes, that was 747-400.

      Delete
    4. I am just saying what I was told by a member of the Vnci board. I am sure they are in talks with our government but it all depends on what they will ask in the end. Knowing the French i wouldn't be too optimistic if i were the Serbian government.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:56

      Is that the Amiri (Abu Dhabi) or Dubai Air Wing 744? I wonder what's it doing in BEG? Nothing in the news...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:58

      Tomorrow another 747-400 in Belgrade, Silk Way Airlines.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous22:49

      Vinci plan to take concession on Lyon and Marseilles airports this year. That is their priority!

      Delete
    8. I never said it wasn't, don't see the need for the exclamation mark. All i said is that they are looking at airports in Russia and that they don't have enough cash for two airports. That's what he said. Now if you know better than a member of the Vinci board then i stand corrected.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous22:03

      In less than 24 hours BEG is being visited bz A321s.
      All 3 are Star Alliance but no LH, maybe there will be one more Lufthansa tomorrow evening.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous22:05

      Widebody every day. We need some more space. Jat Tehnika apron needs to be cleaned of junker aircraft and another terminal should be added east to the hangar for low costers.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous19:59

    The thinking you guys have is completely wrong, If, for example serious airline will invest and open full fare airline and base in SKP, starts with 4, 5 airplanes (or 10 it doesnt matter), creates strong network and starts funneling traffic through SKP then SKP can hope for transatlantic service. It doesn't rally matter if its SKP, ZAG or PGD for example. Take Atlanta for example, Atlanta doesn't have needs for so many destinations, but since Delta is based there, the airport is one of the biggest in the world. Again, it doesn't matter which airport is in question as long as serious investor shows up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous20:34

      True

      Delete
    2. Great, only difference is that Atlanta is a city with an economy of 300 billion dollars and the city with the 17th greatest GDP in the world, and also one of the largest domestic O/D markets in the United States.

      You can't just set up a network anywhere. You need a strong O/D market too. Even the MEB3 have a significant O/D market,

      Delete
    3. +1 Aleksandar, exactly what came to my mind!

      Delete
  19. Anonymous21:42

    I didn't said that it will reach that level, but I'm just comparing apples to apples (although larger to smaller). Same example is Air Serbia, as you can see they hope they will start transatlantic in near future, but they have serious investor (for now) behind them and they keep on adding new routes which will funnel pax through BEG. Seeing things only on a national level is really wrong in this time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This airline wouldn't have the size to attract transit passengers, but it would also fail miserably on the O/D market because the costs associated with a transit airline are very large compared to LCCs. The only way it could continue to exist is with money being pumped into it constanty, like B&H and Montenegro Airlines.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous23:12

    http://postimg.org/image/nuleyy5cn/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:11

      Još kad bi Milo dozvolio da njegovi Jungle Jet-ovi budu ovako prefarbani...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous00:13

      ...a onda i par takvih komada ponuditi Skoplju i Sarajevu...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous00:45

      To bi bilo odlicno kad bih Regional imao baze u SKP, TGD, TIV .BNX i BEG znaci trebalo bi oko 12 E195.
      A Aviolet da se pretvore u LCC da lete za LGW, MAD, SAW , BCN , CAI , TLV ,DUB i RTM sto verujem da bi bilo bolje nego charter kompanija.
      INN-NS

      Delete
  21. Anonymous00:36

    Bas cudnovato: Air Berlin has reported a €377 million loss ($458 million) in 2014, http://atwonline.com/finance-data/airberlin-posts-record-losses-2014-restructuring-costs?NL=ATW-04&Issue=ATW-04_20150430_ATW-04_406&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_7_1&utm_rid=CPEN1000000442609&utm_campaign=2386&utm_medium=email

    ReplyDelete
  22. Trip report I found on flightreport website with help of ASL twitter page. The trip report covers transit in BEG as well as flight to AUH on the EY flight (operated by ASL).

    http://flight-report.com/en/report-10036.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. another trip report with AZ to BEG from the same person travelling to AUH. The guy took routing from FCO to AUH via BEG. One thing to note is that AZ is killing it on the BEG route since the author of the trip report said that there were 8/10 pax in C and around 95% load in Y. Another advantage that AZ has is the wide variety of aircraft. When the load is light they can send the Embraer 175 and 190. Till now we have seen a wide mix of AZ aircraft in BEG.

      http://flight-report.com/en/report-10012.html

      Delete

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